Yearly Archives: 2012
Wolf Richter: China, the Number One Foreign Investor in Germany
The latest success—I suppose you could call it that, at least for those involved on the financial end—was the Kiekert deal last week. The company was founded in 1857 near Düsseldorf, Germany, and became the largest manufacturer of automotive door-lock systems. Its customers are GM, Ford, VW, BMW, and other automakers around the world. But now a Chinese company bought Kiekert, the sign of a sea change.
Read more...Philip Pilkington: Scattergun Economics – The BBC’s Stephanie Flanders Muddies an Already Impenetrable Argument
By Philip Pilkington, a writer and journalist based in Dublin, Ireland. You can follow him on Twitter at @pilkingtonphil
Last Friday the BBC’s economics editor Stephanie Flanders ran one of the most terrible economics articles I’ve ever read: ‘The Truth About UK Debt.’ The problem is that it contains very little truth.
Read more...Understanding the Australian economy
By Delusional Economics continues his expose into why economists don’t understand the economy, with a look at Australia’s sectoral balances and our chronic CAD. Cross posted from MacroBusiness.
As you may have noticed I’ve taken an eye off Europe for a short while in order to provide some macro analysis on what is happening in the Australian economy. At present there is a growing gap in the economic conversation in Australia between what is actually happening and the rhetoric….
Read more...Links 3/19/2012
Roger Lowenstein’s Disgraceful Propagandizing via “Bernanke as Hero” Piece
As Winston Churchill pointed out, history is written by the victors. The big end of finance, having won decisively in the global financial crisis, is in the process of rewriting history to suit its liking. The cover story in the current Atlantic by Roger Lowenstein on Ben Bernanke, titled simply, “The Hero,” is a classic example of this type of revisionist history.
Read more...Push for Bankster-Friendly Rep from the Upper East Side Carolyn Maloney Over Uppity Maxine Waters to Head House Financial Service Committee
Even though the odds are against the Democrats retaking the House of Representatives, the jockeying in case that event takes place is already underway. An effort is afoot to push aside the Democratic heir presumptive of the powerful House Financial Services leadership, Maxine Waters, and install the representative from the Upper East Side’s Silk Stocking district, Carolyn Maloney.
What’s striking about the effort to take down Waters is the thinly disguised racism.
Read more...Mayor-for-Life Bloomberg’s NYPD arrests French bagpipe players at OWS six-month celebration in Zuccotti Park. Also, police violence against the non-violent
Jeebus, Mike, who’s handling the PR on this Occupier thing, anyhow? That “Jake” kid that couldn’t shut Smith up? See, brutality is one thing, everybody understands that, but bagpipes? French bagpipes? What’s WRONG with you guys? And those Feds you’ve got downtown; wasn’t anybody watching the screens? Do you want the NPYD to look like your private goon squad?
Read more...Links 3/18/12
Yet Another Reason to Hate the Mortgage Settlement: The Release is Botched
Do you remember the brouhaha before the mortgage settlement was announced about the release? Recall, sports fans, as we stressed often, that this was a cash for release deal. The only motivating factor for the banks was the scope of the release. The Administration and attorneys general kept claiming the release was narrow, even as both the messaging (unintentionally) and snippets of disclosure suggested otherwise.
Read more...AARP Back in Bed With Effort to Cut Social Security and Medicare
Wow, the AARP must be taking lessons from the Democratic Party, that you can afford sell out your putative base if you do the bidding of really big moneyed interests.
Read more...Links 3/17/12
Neil Barofsky, Matt Stoller, and Your Humble Blogger on Why the Mortgage Settlement Sucks
This Bloomberg interview gives a nice high-level overview of why the mortgage settlement is terrible. It’s particularly useful if you are looking for a few key issues to present to someone who has bought the Obama administration PR or is late to the topic.
Read more...Ian Fraser: Will We Finally See Some Bank Board Members Face the Music?
Yves here. As much as the odds still favor clueless or complicit board members bearing no consequences of their misdeeds, the authorities in England are moving forward on the HBOS failure far more seriously than anything we’ve seen in the US. That is no small measure due to the fact that leadership of both the Bank of England and the FSA recognize that banks need to be curbed and have proposed and pushed hard for some serious remedies, such as a version of Glass Steagall (their more aggressive version was beaten back thanks to concerted lobbying by the banks and the Treasury).
By Ian Fraser, a financial journalist who blogs at his web site and at qfinance. His Twitter is @ian_fraser.
Last Friday was an extraordinary day in the world of banking.
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